Monthly Archives: March 2018

A few weeks ago a friend sent me a note saying she’d begun her morning by watching a video that Kenosis Spirit Keepers* produced from footage of one of my spiritual travel programs in Peru. We went on to have an exchange on how such things touch us and change our lives.

Our brief discussion didn’t leave me. Over these last days a multitude of memories kept popping up, the journeys I’ve taken, people I’ve encountered, that have inspired me onto a different, deeper track. Some of these were undertaken with a clear frame of intent, others happenstance I never could have predicted.

In all of this, a particular time came to mind again and again, probably because its 3-year anniversary is nearly upon me. But I’d already been preparing for several months, intensively as it got closer. By now, I was walking 8-10 miles several times a week. It was a trial to squeeze in the training necessary to walk the Camino Francés, from the French side of the Pyrenees to Santiago de Compostela. However, it was one of those things that I was so drawn to do and didn’t know why. A must-do. I knew it would stretch me but so had many, many other things I’d embraced.

I revisited the writings and photos from The Essential Way, the blog I created to document my pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago. You’re welcome to read the whole blog if you like.

Here’s one I’d like to share with you here. I wrote I’ll Know I’m Home When 12 days after I completed the Camino. I think I was laying over in Paris on my way home. It’s a snapshot of experience and take-aways.

Somewhere along the way, once I got the rhythm down pat, I began to note somewhat tongue-in-cheek differences between daily life on the Camino and home. But the more I listed the more I realized it’s an intimate glimpse of common pilgrim experiences you normally wouldn’t be aware of unless you’d undertaken the journey. I also began to have insights, reminders and resolutions related to some of them that I’ve included at the end.

I’ll know I’m home when…

… I’m no longer looking for markers every few minutes to tell me where to go, except perhaps subliminally.

… I’ll no longer be walking continually for 4-8 hours on a daily basis, with the exception of a brief rest or rest day.

… I’ll no longer hear the continual click-click click-click of walking sticks telling me that a pilgrim is coming along the trail.

As sometimes happens, the more I wrote, the deeper the realizations went. I began to sense, in some ways, what it was like to be homeless.

… I’ll have more than one change of clothing.

… I’ll have more choices to wear on my feet than hiking shoes or flip flops.

… I’ll keep my belongings in a closet or chest of drawers rather than a backpack.

… I’ll no longer do my laundry on a daily basis rather than weekly.

… I’ll no longer be required to vacate my lodging each day by 0800, or be restricted in any movement or slight noises between 2200-0630.

… I’ll know on a consistent basis where I’ll lay my head each night.

There are more of those listings. But then there was this…

My Take-Aways…

It’s important to be alert to the lay of the land to avoid becoming lost or overlooking tell-tale signals that things are off track or hidden. I resolve to sharpen my peripheral and x-ray vision.

Flexibility is a virtue. It’s also important to set your limits and abide by them. I resolve to identify with even more depth and breadth what is true for me.

A simple life in the best sense is a pure one, devoid of clutter in the mind or unnecessary material goods, anything that weighs down the spirit. I resolve to up-level my sorting and pitching process.

Nature is a great gift, healer and stress reliever. I’m fortunate to live where I do. Nature—miles of it—is just outside my door. I resolve to do these things more: hike, take breaks, sit on the deck, notice the wildflowers—however small—and watch the lizards, birds and other wildlife. Absorb energy given by the moon, sun, stars, wind and rain with intent to return it in ways that are life-giving.

I’d had no idea what was in front of me. Do we ever really? We think we do. It’s how we try to control our world. Things can turn on a dime, and they do. If anything, the Camino is the great equalizer. It shows us what we all have in common, that separation is an illusion. It instills humility.

Sitting with the outcome of my Camino, attempting to make sense of the learning, I had come to one understanding. Presence. That one I wrote a bit about.

Now something else is emerging. Transience. The nature of reality. An awareness we tend to turn away from. But it makes life that much more precious.

***

*Kenosis Spirit Keepers is the volunteer-run 501(c)3 nonprofit I founded in 2007 to help preserve Indigenous traditions facing decimation.

This is a grassroots effort. You are invited to help us create the first of many such healing gatherings to come for Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups. Please lend your help through donation and spreading the word. Ways to support are included below.

I am partnering with Eli PaintedCrow, Iraq War veteran and Co-founder of Turtle Women Rising in this grassroots effort toward generative healing of trauma and pain…that would positively affect individuals, families and communities. This is a suicide prevention effort

We are undertaking a pilot program merging the powerful, documented healing effects of the drum and a clearing method calledBrainsweep I’ve been offering with much success.

This first opportunity is offered to Indigenous women veterans living in California at no cost to them, to include teachings, materials, food, travel and lodging. We intend this gathering as a model to evaluate, expand upon and offer to other Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups. The application information is below.

Kenosis Spirit Keepers, the nonprofit extension of Kenosis, is the fiscal sponsor for Turtle Women Rising. Any donations are tax-deductible.

We create a safe haven within the timeless prayer of the drum. Science is catching up with what Indigenous peoples have known for millennia. Drumming has been shown to elevate moods, intervene with the use of numbing agents and guide us back to ourselves.

In the sacred presence of the drum, a set of simple, safe techniques called Brainsweep is taught. These interventions drastically reduce or eliminate symptoms associated with PTSD and other traumas. Working with the brain, they interrupt triggers and dissipate automatic responses to stressors. Easy to learn, they’re meant to be self-administered whenever needed. There’s no need to disclose personal history, and healing results are experienced without medication or therapy. When misguided, automatic fight-or-flight responses ⎯ emotional or physical ⎯ no longer occur, it paves the way for clarity, life-giving choices and a meaningful life.

Participants leave the gathering with a personal drum each has made, having learned ways to support health and wellbeing — and fully claim spiritual authority. We remember and regain the walk of our ancestors who wait patiently in our veins to be healed by us as we heal ourselves. We walk as one heartbeat, that of the Mother.

APPLY FOR A SPONSORSHIP. MUST BE RECEIVED BY MAY 4.

If you are an Indigenous woman veteran living in California ready to move beyond pain and disconnection, please apply. Go to the gathering program page and download a sponsorship application.

If you know someone who would be interested, please share this announcement.

HEALING WAYS THAT WORK.

Eli PaintedCrow has been invited to speak at the Native American Veterans Association Summit on March 29 at the Long Beach VA on her own PTSD recovery using the drum and Brainsweep.

They stood up for us. Let’s stand up for our sisters.

Not one more suicide, please.

MAKE A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO SUPPORT THIS GRASSROOTS EFFORT. THE WORLD NEEDS THIS WORK.

THANK YOU for helping bring about this grassroots undertaking that ultimately can have a wide reach toward healing.

Especially in these times, we need it. The planet needs it.

Join me and accept our invitation to be part of something beautiful…something that brings hope…and know that you are supporting continuation of the invisible, sacred threads that hold the world together.

I cannot tell you how I came across the poetry and prose of Tom Hirons. Perhaps the Wild God he writes of led me there those years ago. But once I laid eyes on the words that came through him — because he himself thought they were a remembrance from elsewhere — I’ve been held captive, wanting more. This writer knows how to reach in and shake any dormant aspect of us from sleep. He writes not to the archetype, but the actual Hero we all carry at the core. This isn’t a fairy tale, and Hirons doesn’t deny the messy doings in bringing the Wild God-Hero to full light. In the process, he ushers us into the Dark Unknown where fear raises its hackles in all kinds of unimagined ways. Still, the Wild God will not deny us.

I dare you to listen to Sometimes a Wild God narrated by the poet himself. Then read the words. How can you not be shaken to the core?

Now Tom Hirons has just released Nettle-Eater in which he speaks to us directly, garnering our attention in the first several lines.

You know the call.

All your books speak of it.

If I differ from you, it is only in this: When the call came, I heeded it. What the call commanded, I fulfilled.

The call said:

Go to the moor.

Live wild there.

Eat only nettles for one year.

This is what I did.

Then he proceeds to disclose the Dark Night, the footfalls and not-of-mind ramblings of the initiatory journey, and emergence of the soul. As a prophet once said, this is for those with ears to hear, eyes to see. Spend time with the nettle-eater. You’ll find all the unknowable secrets revealed. At the end, he presents The Invitation.

And you, sitting there?

Do you know these things?

Look at that world beyond your door.

Your life is on fire.

Run!

Dive in, though it surely means death. Taste the streams, the heather and the gorse and the broom. Hold the river stones. Sleep with the waterfall as your pillow. Braid yourself to the horse’s mane. Sing the great lament of your own lost life.

In time, scar yourself with fire and stone. Immerse yourself in such immovable darkness that the lightning cracks you in two.

You were never more lost than you are now, if you cannot reach out, touch the wild earth and weep.

Run!

It is not yet too late, but soon it will be.

Run!

Do not sit there, wondering.

I have told you the truth.

The author generously offers Nettle-Eater for you to freely read in its entirety. You can also go to the Hedgespoken Shop to purchase a signed, limited edition chapbook to hold in your hands. Sometimes a Wild God is available there in illustrated book and poster forms as well.

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Carla Woody

The Lifepath Dialogues offer an invitation toward embodiment of all that is life-affirming and the deeper meaning of sustainability. Themes are drawn from books "Calling Our Spirits Home" and "Standing Stark" and 20+ years as a conscious living mentor leading spiritual travel journeys with Indigenous Wisdom Keepers serving their communities, group and individual programs. Carla specializes in working with people who seek to live through their deeply held values. For more info see the “About” tab. The author may be reached via cwoody@kenosis.net. Follow this blog by becoming a fan on the Kenosis Facebook page.

The Lifepath Dialogues Gatherings

Topics here are meant to open conversations and self-reflection. For more information, go to the "About" page.

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